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EXTRA · THE BUSINESS GUINEA PIGS
All the characters of The Business Guinea Pigs
Four guinea pigs, two kids and a whole street full of people who have something to say. Here you meet everyone who appears in the books, each with a line they really say in the book.
The leading roles always belong to the guinea pigs, Daria and Christian. Everyone else brings the questions, the evidence and the laughs.
The six main characters
Rocky, Mr. Grey, Toffy and Mojito live in the enclosure in the garden. Daria and Christian are ten and the only ones they talk to.
Daria always has a new idea, usually several at once. The lemonade stand was her idea, and so was the shopping basket for the carrots. She wants to get started, not wait. And every time, she asks whether something is fair.
Trademark: her idea book full of plans, the signature with the big curly D, favorite color sunshine yellow.
„Verprassen ist dumm, Christian. Aber an der richtigen Stelle Geld einsetzen — das ist clever.“
“Wasting money is dumb, Christian. But spending it in the right place — that's clever.”
Christian wants to understand how something works before he says yes. He builds a cash box from a wooden crate, checks profit and loss, and weighs a sack of hay with his old luggage scale. He and Daria have a deal sealed with a handshake: first do the math, then do it.
Trademark: notebook and pencil, calculator in his pants pocket, favorite color petrol blue.
„Nichts geht los. Erst rechnen wir. Das ist die Regel.“
“Nothing’s going anywhere. First we do the math. That’s the rule.”
Rocky turns every explanation into a show. He founds companies, writes invoices for a million carrots and declares a crisis whenever a price changes. He is loud and sometimes too quick. But he means well, and in the end he always understands a little more.
Trademark: an old blue ballpoint pen as a microphone and a sign of his own for every problem.
„Rocky hat TALENT. Und Talent gehört auf eine Bühne.“
“Rocky has TALENT. And talent belongs on a stage.”
Mr. Grey has a history example for everything, from the Romans to the Hanseatic League. He explains taxes, contracts and purchasing power in a way you won't forget. Only when he goes back too far do the others say together: No.
Trademark: the round golden glasses he puts on before saying something important.
„Verträge sind kein Käfig. Verträge sind der Grund, warum man Fremden vertrauen kann.“
“Contracts aren't a cage. Contracts are the reason you can trust strangers.”
Toffy is always hungry and has a big heart, usually both at the same time. Since volume 2 he has been the official Chief Taster. He asks the question everyone is thinking but nobody says: Is that actually fair? And he knows every carrot price tag of the last two years by heart.
Trademark: the Toffy seal with his head and a little crown, and the round blue tin with two euros and a button.
„Mich kann man nicht ablenken … Außer mit Futter.“
“I can't be distracted … Except with food.”
Mojito reads what others don't: the fine print. He smells the catch before anyone signs and says in one sentence what is going on. Usually he has only one eye open. When he opens the second one, it gets serious.
Trademark: the magnifying glass, the black mask around his eyes and his favorite line: And then the tax office comes.
„Zu billig … riecht immer nach Haken.“
“Too cheap … always smells like a catch.”
At Knut's garden center
This is where the hay comes from. And this is where the kids learn what wages, prices and savings mean in real life.
Knut delivers the hay for the guinea pigs. In volume 2 he is still Knabber-Knut with the bargain-price flyer. Later the kids really get to know him at his garden center: friendly, a bit chaotic and very honest. He is always looking for notes that Ina found long ago.
Trademark: chalk instead of a pen, the big blackboard with prices in the yard and the jar marked RESERVE WINTER.
„Ich verspreche nichts, was ich nicht gerechnet habe.“
“I don’t promise anything I haven’t calculated.”
Ina does Knut's bookkeeping and knows where the note is. Most of the time. She explains a payslip to the kids with three boxes: gross, deductions, net. In volume 5 she works out with Knut what his hay really has to cost. She is calm, precise and dryly funny, and private numbers stay private with her.
Trademark: the office full of folders, the big calculator and the reserve jar on the windowsill.
„Ein Lohnzettel ist kein Wunschzettel.“
“A payslip is not a wish list.”
Jonas first appears in volume 4 and the first thing he does is catch a toppling stack of hay sacks. He helped out on the farm of Knut's brother over the summer and is looking for something steady. He is helpful, down to earth and has a dry sense of humor. First he helps by chance. Then for real.
Trademark: the red sweater, hay sacks on his shoulder and his line that he just happened to be in the area anyway.
„Einen Vertrag unterschreibt man nicht zwischen Tür und Angel.“
“You don’t sign a contract in a doorway.”
In the neighborhood
The people on the street who ask the right question at the right moment. Or steal a shoelace.
It all starts with Herr Berger. In volume 1 he casually asks the kids whether they are paying their taxes like good citizens, and nobody knows what to say. He likes asking questions that have no quick answer and enjoys quoting his grandmother. Grumpy, a little mischievous and never without a newspaper.
Trademark: the newspaper under his arm and the line he says in almost every volume.
„Und denkt dran — irgendwer kassiert immer mit.“
“And remember — somebody always takes a cut.”
Frau Müller already buys two glasses of lemonade in volume 1, one for herself and one, she says, for the dog. In volume 5 you really get to know her: warm, quick-witted, laughing before she even says anything. As a dental technician she knows that sometimes it isn't the work that gets more expensive, but the material. And she calls Filip her little evidence collector.
Trademark: black glasses, big silver hoop earrings and Herr Müller's armchair, which Zottel is not allowed to sit on.
„Erst lachen wir kurz … dann rechnen wir richtig.“
“First we laugh a little … then we do the math properly.”
Filip lives a little further down the street and walks Zottel for Frau Müller. He doesn't believe anything just because someone says it. He asks: How do we know that? With his camera he photographs price tags before everyone gets used to the new prices. And slowly he begins to suspect that something about the guinea pigs isn't quite right.
Trademark: the camera around his neck, the photo folder with dated pictures and shoelaces that are always in danger.
„Ich fotografiere Dinge, bevor alle sagen: Das war doch schon immer so.“
“I photograph things before everybody says: It’s always been like that.”
Zottel never says a word. He doesn't need to. He steals Filip's red shoelaces, buries a potato in Knut's herb bed and sits on anything he wants to keep. Whatever he confiscates belongs to him. He is modelled on Christian's real dog, who has the same name.
Trademark: First bury it. Then sit on it. Then it's his.
The families
So far, Daria's and Christian's parents stay in the background of the books. But who they are is already decided.
Anna
Daria's mum
She runs an event agency.
Mathias
Daria's dad
He is an architect.
Denise
Christian's mum
She is a kindergarten teacher.
Klaus
Christian's dad
He is a lawyer. In volume 2 Christian tells how his dad had to sign when his savings account was opened.
Questions about the characters
Who are the main characters of The Business Guinea Pigs?
The four guinea pigs Rocky (the showman), Mr. Grey (the professor), Toffy (the heart) and Mojito (the trickster), and the two ten-year-olds Daria (the entrepreneur) and Christian (the tinkerer). They carry every volume.
Who appears for the first time in which volume?
Herr Berger and Frau Müller are already there in volume 1. Knut joins as the supplier in volume 2, Ina and Jonas in volume 4 at Knut's garden center. Filip and Zottel the dachshund are new in volume 5.
Why do the guinea pigs only talk to Daria and Christian?
That is the most important rule in the enclosure: in front of people they don't know, the guinea pigs never say a word. Knut, Ina or Filip only hear squeaking. Only Daria and Christian understand what the four say.
Who is Filip?
Filip is the neighbor's boy, 13 years old and new in volume 5. He walks Zottel, photographs price tags as evidence and asks about everything: How do we know that?
Who are Ina and Jonas?
Ina is Knut's bookkeeper. In volume 4 she explains the payslip to the kids, in volume 5 she works out Knut's prices. Jonas has been working in Knut's warehouse since volume 4.
Do the guinea pigs really exist?
Yes. Rocky, Mr. Grey, Toffy and Mojito live with us, and the characters in the book are inspired by them. The two kids carry our names, Daria and Christian. And Zottel is modelled on Christian's real dog.
Meet them in the books
Every volume can be read on its own, bilingual in German and English, for kids aged 10 and up. It's nicest to start with volume 1. That's where Herr Berger asks the question that starts it all.